During Sean "Diddy" Combs' federal trial on Thursday (May 15), singer and former partner Cassie Ventura took the stand and faced intense cross-examination by the music mogul’s legal team.
Defense attorney Anna Estevao pressed Cassie about her 11-year relationship with Combs, specifically referencing her past statements about being “in love” with him. Estevao asked Cassie about discovering the “real” Sean Combs, to which Cassie acknowledged he could be “very sweet” and “attentive.”
The line of questioning turned more pointed when Estevao asked, “To make him happy, you told him that you wanted to do ‘freak-offs,’ didn’t you?” Cassie replied, “There’s a lot more to that,” before requesting a break from the stand.
Upon returning, Estevao continued the aggressive questioning, at one point asking whether Cassie believed she had “ruined” Diddy’s career by filing a $50 million civil lawsuit against him in 2023, which included explosive allegations of abuse. Cassie responded, “I could understand that, yeah.”
Diddy's legal team also introduced explicit text messages exchanged between the pair in the early years of their relationship. In a 2009 message, Combs wrote, “When do you want to freak off?” to which Cassie replied, “I’m always ready to freak off. Lolol.” Combs then wrote, “You tell me the day, you choose.”
After reading the messages, Diddy’s attorney Marc Agnifilo commented, “This is about the nature of relationships. This is about jealousies.”
Earlier in her testimony, Cassie detailed a dark period in early 2023, when she struggled with opioid addiction and suicidal thoughts. She recounted that she had entered trauma therapy and, at her lowest point, told her husband, fitness trainer Alex Fine, that he could go on without her. She then attempted to walk into traffic, but Fine intervened and stopped her.
Source: CBS News
